Written by Natalie Mullins
When I first arrived in Vietnam, I wasn’t entirely sure what the next 12 weeks would look like. I knew I would be undertaking my Honours research at Can Tho University, but beyond that, there were plenty of unknowns.
The journey to get here was anything but straightforward. I left Australia just a few days after finishing work, somehow managed to break my phone 30 minutes before boarding my flight, and landed in a new country with no way to contact anyone. Thankfully, everyone I met was incredibly kind and helpful. Despite a few hiccups along the way, I made it to my accommodation for the night, caught my bus to Can Tho the following day, and was dropped off on a random side street, where I wandered through the rain searching for my accommodation.
Once I settled in, things couldn’t have been better. My host whisked my broken phone away while I was asleep, arranged for it to be repaired, and had it back in my hands the following afternoon. I somehow managed to find my way to the university using what I remembered from studying Google Maps on my laptop. I was greeted by familiar faces I had been fortunate enough to meet the year before.
Before long, Can Tho University began to feel like a place that would be incredibly difficult to leave after only 12 weeks.
After a weekend spent settling in, I headed out on my first field trip to visit local farmers. Unfortunately, after being bitten by ants on the bottom of both feet and having quite a reaction over the following 24 hours, walking became a little difficult. However, I couldn’t have been more grateful for the students who drove me everywhere while I recovered!
Since then, I’ve been in the laboratory every day. As an online student, I’ve realised how much I’ve missed having a daily routine and being surrounded by other students. Instead of working from home or balancing study around work, I have been able to immerse myself in research, learn from those around me and contribute to projects alongside other students.
Through countless discussions, brainstorming sessions and many changes of direction, my supervisor and I finalised my Honours experiment, and I am now nearing the end of running it. Of course, conducting research in a new country comes with its challenges. The days are long, the afternoons are hot, and there have been many lunchtime naps in the lab when walking home seemed like far too much effort. I also have very limited laboratory experience, and many of the methodology sheets I receive are in Vietnamese. Thankfully, Google Translate has become one of my best friends, with the photo translation feature usually about 85 per cent accurate! The remaining 15 per cent, well, we somehow manage to figure it out together.
The best part, however, has been the people.
I have been welcomed with open arms by the students, my host supervisors and the rest of the faculty. Everyone is constantly checking in on me and making sure I have everything I need. This has included being given a pair of ‘slippers’ after silly me assumed you needed closed-toe shoes for a lab, and even being given my own bike helmet to use whenever someone drives me somewhere on their motorbike. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit friends’ homes and share meals with their families, and even attend a local wedding amid the chaos of what is essentially uni in a foreign country.
The research is the reason I came to Vietnam, but the people I’ve met and the way they have welcomed me into their lives have made this experience so much more than a university placement.
I only have a few weeks left, and I’m already making plans with the students to explore as much of Can Tho as possible before I return to Australia. I know I’ll be leaving with much more than a completed experiment and a thesis, and I hope to be back sometime soon!
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